The soft coral capital of the world is all set to make its mark as an upcoming leisure destination for India. Although India is a very new market for Fiji, Elizabeth A Powell, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Public Enterprises, Tourism & Communication and Civil Aviation, The Republic of Fiji believes that with the correct marketing strategy, organised working ethics and in depth target research, Fiji tourism will be able to position itself in a burgeoning market like India. In 2012, Fiji recorded a 38 per cent growth in Indian arrivals, compared with the previous year. In 2010, the number of tourists from India was 1800, in 2011 it was 2200, and more than 3000 last year. “We have seen double-digit growth from the Indian market and we hope that this trend continues,” Powell said.
According to Powell, India has always been of utmost importance to Fiji. “More than half of our population is of Indian descent. In terms of visitor arrival numbers, at present, Indians make up for a very small portion, just under one per cent of our visitor arrivals.”
Tourism Fiji is not focusing on any ordinary Indian traveller. Powell informed, “I strongly believe that it is the quality and not the quantity of the visitors that matter. As we are so far away and a long haul destination, our visitors from India are generally upmarket. Most tourists from India arrive in the country for weddings, honeymoon and family packages. We need to recognise this segment of tourists and make sure the focus was them.”
Tourism Fiji recently underwent a major overhaul with a new logo and slogan. “The new brand’s uniqueness replaces the old ‘Fiji Me’ slogan. Fiji is famous for its people and their friendly nature. Here on, we will be promoting Fiji as the destination to find real pleasure, and we feel that our new slogan ‘Fiji, where happiness finds you’ rightly describes the country and truly reflects the country’s position as a holiday destination,” she said, adding that there was a study done in 56 countries in the world in which 54,000 people were tested and Fijians were found to be the happiest in the world, which is a remarkable feat. “Happiness is the thing we own that nobody else has. And everyone is looking for it. Brands around the world are trying to sell happiness, which you can only get in a place like Fiji. Our strategy is to show that Fiji can make you happier than anywhere else in the world,” she opined.
To create greater awareness about its new brand among the travel trade, Powell revealed that Tourism Fiji will relaunch its global online training programme Fiji Matai Specialist. “The online training programme is part of a global marketing campaign to educate the travel trade about the offerings of Fiji. The online training programme will be launched in mid-2013, along with other marketing activities to create awareness about the highlights of the new brand in the B2B as well as B2C space.”
Fiji Tourism is all set to target Bollywood to promote tourism products and destinations in Fiji. As a few Indian films have already been shot in Fiji, the tourism department will try to attract more Indian film producers to shoot their films there. “Fiji will offer a 47 per cent tax rebate for film productions in the region. We are in talks with some renowned Bollywood producers and I am sure with the 47 per cent rebate and Fiji’s exotic positioning the future definitely seems bright,” she concluded.
